The invention relates to a disc brake for vehicles, in particular a pneumatically actuated disc brake for commercial vehicles.
In general, disc brakes are known and can take various forms. For example, Knorr Bremse Systeme fuer Nutzfahrzeuge GmbH produces commercial disc brakes having the product designations SB6 and SB7, and also SN6 and SN7. The present invention is, in particular, suitable for use in brakes of this type, but is also suitable in principle for other types of disc brakes in which a first moveable brake component, in particular a rotary lever which is to be mounted eccentrically, is mounted on a further brake component by use of a circular-arc-shaped needle bearing. Here, the terms “outer ring” and “inner ring” do not denote closed rings but rather components which extend in an arcuate fashion over at least part of a circle.
Needle bearings or rolling bearings having an outer ring, an inner ring, and a set of bearing needles, have been proven per se for mounting brake parts which are moveable relative to one another. A need for optimization is seen, in particular, in the relatively high cost expenditure in producing needle bearings of that type.
The present invention seeks to solve this problem by providing a disc brake for vehicles, in particular a pneumatically actuated disc brake for commercial vehicles, having a brake caliper and an application device, which is arranged in the brake caliper, for applying the brake. The application device has a first component, preferably a rotary lever, which is mounted in a moveable fashion on a second component, such as the interior of the brake caliper, by way of a needle bearing having a set of bearing needles, an outer ring and an inner ring, which is embodied as a bearing cage. The outer ring and the inner ring have the geometry of a section of a circular arc. The inner ring, which is embodied as a bearing cage, is made from plastic and engages in a U-shaped fashion around a sheet metal ring forming the outer ring.
According to the invention, the inner ring is thus embodied as a plastic bearing cage, which engages in a U-shaped fashion around a “planar” sheet metal ring as the outer bearing ring. Since the outer ring is composed of a metal sheet, which—with the exception of the functional elements such as lugs or the like—can be produced in a simple manner in one single bending process, and since the function of the lateral cage walls is assumed by the plastic inner ring which can be produced in a cost-effective manner for example as an injection-molded part, the costs of producing the needle bearing and, therefore, the costs of producing the disc brake can be lowered while nevertheless providing functionality which is the same as or improved over that of the prior art. According to the prior art, in contrast, the outer ring was manufactured as a sheet metal arc with two lateral cage walls. However, the two lateral case walls could only be attached to the very hard metal sheet which was to be used by complex and expensive production processes. Counter to previous expectations, however, it is possible for the function of laterally delimiting the cage to be moved to the plastic inner ring.
Advantageous embodiments are described and claimed herein.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.